The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Dahlia plant, botanically known as Dahlia variabilis, commercially referred to as a pot-type Dahlia, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Rio Grandexe2x80x99.
The new Dahlia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Hillegom, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create new pot-type Dahlia cultivars with desirable inflorescence form, attractive colors, and good garden performance.
The new Dahlia originated from a cross made by the Inventor in 1995 of two unidentified proprietary Dahlia variabilis seedling selections, not patented. The new Dahlia was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross grown in a controlled environment in Hillegom, The Netherlands. The selection of this plant was based on its desirable inflorescence form and attractive floret colors.
Asexual reproduction of the new Dahlia by vegetative tip cuttings was first conducted in Hillegom, The Netherlands in 1996. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Dahlia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar xe2x80x98Rio Grandexe2x80x99 has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Rio Grandexe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Rio Grandexe2x80x99 as a new and distinct pot-type Dahlia:
1. Upright, uniformly mounded and compact plant habit.
2. Freely branching, full and dense plants.
3. Short response time.
4. Continuously and freely flowering during the spring until fall.
5. Full inflorescences with multiple rows of ray florets.
6. Dark pink-colored ray florets with bright yellow-colored disc florets.
Plants of the new Dahlia differ from plants of the parent selections primarily in ray floret color.
Plants of the new Dahlia can be compared to plants of the cultivar xe2x80x98Marylandxe2x80x99, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,602. However, in side-by-side comparisons conducted in De Lier, The Netherlands, plants of the new Dahlia differed from plants of the cultivar xe2x80x98Marylandxe2x80x99 in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Dahlia grow faster and flower about one to two weeks earlier than plants of the cultivar xe2x80x98Marylandxe2x80x99.
2. Plants of the new Dahlia have smaller leaves than plants of the cultivar xe2x80x98Marylandxe2x80x99.
3. Plants of the new Dahlia have smaller inflorescences than plants of the cultivar xe2x80x98Marylandxe2x80x99.
4. Plants of the new Dahlia and the cultivar xe2x80x98Marylandxe2x80x99 differ in ray floret color.